“Obviously, we lose this game, we’re not giving up or anything, but we want
to go back up with a chance to finish there. Huge pressure if we have to go back
there and try to win two.”

The Heat evened the series with a 109-93 victory Thursday night, setting up
what’s often the pivotal moment of the finals. Of the 27 times the series was
tied at 2-2, the Game 5 winner went on to win 20 of them.

“I think that’s what everyone would like, 2-2 in the finals for Game 5,”
LeBron James said. “We are excited about the opportunity. We have another
opportunity to win on someone else’s floor.”

It’s the same situation Miami was in two years ago, losing Game 5 in Dallas.
But the Heat also had dropped the previous game, and James was struggling
through a poor series by his standards.

Everything looks good for the Heat as they arrive at this stage now. James
was dominant in Game 4 with 33 points and 11 rebounds, and Wade scored 32
points, not appearing to be bothered at all by a painful right knee that had
limited his effectiveness in the postseason.

With Bosh breaking out with 20 points and 13 rebounds, everything that was a
problem for the Heat a few days ago no longer looks to be the case. Instead, the
obstacles look to be piling up for the Spurs.

“It’s a part of the playoffs,” Wade said. “There’s always high moments.
There’s always low moments. There’s moments when you have guys who are in a
slump, et cetera. Guys who come out of it. Great story lines. It’s all of it.”

The teams returned to practice Saturday after taking a day off, and though
Parker said his strained right hamstring was feeling better and he hoped to be
close to 100 percent by the game, he later made that sound impossible.

“My hamstring can tear any time now,” he said. “So if it was the regular
season, I would be resting like 10 days. But now it’s the NBA Finals. If it gets
a tear, it’s life.”

Ginobili is averaging 7.5 points on 34.5 percent shooting in the series,
making only three of his 16 3-point attempts. Parker said he’s still confident
in his longtime teammate, and coach Gregg Popovich said he wasn’t worried about
either player—about all he did say on a day when he was a man of even fewer
words than usual.

During his brief responses to eight questions, he added that he wasn’t
surprised by the Heat’s lineup change in Game 4, but wouldn’t say whether the
Spurs would do anything different Sunday.

The last three games have all been blowouts, a somewhat surprising result
that wasn’t so surprising to James. When their Big Three all play like they
Thursday, the Heat can make even a good team like the Spurs look pretty bad.

“If we play our game, if we force turnovers, we rebound, execute
offensively and don’t turn the ball over, we can win against anybody,” James
said. “We’re a confident bunch. But we’re going against a great team that’s
going to make adjustments as well. And that’s why it’s a 2-2 series right now.”

The Heat won only twice in San Antonio in their first 24 seasons, and now
can win in back-to-back games, which would give the defending champions two
chances to close out the Spurs back home. Game 6 is Tuesday night.

But the team that won 27 consecutive games during the regular season, the
second-longest winning streak in NBA history, hasn’t been able to win two in a
row since taking the last four games of the second round and the opener of the
Eastern Conference finals.

The Spurs haven’t been any better at maintaining momentum, following their
two victories in this series with turnover-filled losses by a combined 35
points, and Duncan said their focus has to be sharper.

“That’s what it’s all about right now, is that focus for a longer period of
time. Taking care of the ball, understanding what you want to do and less
defensive mistakes, and for whatever reason it seems like the team that’s coming
off a loss has done a better job of sustaining that for a longer period of
time,” Duncan said.

“I hope that’s the case for us tomorrow, but we have to find a way to
alleviate that, whether it’s a win or a loss.”

The Spurs have never lost a Game 5 in the NBA Finals, including victories in
2003 and ’05 when the series were tied 2-2. Sunday’s game could be the last time
Duncan, Parker and Ginobili play at home in the finals, and they want to go out
a winner.

“This game is huge,” Ginobili said. “We don’t want to go to Miami knowing
that we have to win both. Going there to win one of the two is a different
situation. So Game 5, regardless of where you play, it’s huge for you at 2-2.
We’ve seen it too many times. We really want to win this one.”